Are Private Equity Firms Killing American Retailers? Traditional U.S. retailers are experiencing a tough year, with more than a dozen already having declared bankruptcy in 2017. The growth of e-commerce, as well as competition from European rivals such as H&M and Zara, [...]
Wal-Mart and Amazon Vie for America’s “Unbanked” Few retailers have catered more to the unbanked than Wal-Mart. Whether it is a dislike of banks, a distaste for their fees, or some other reason, a sizable portion of U.S. households have chosen not [...]
Is Coffee on the Brink? Coffee crops are under siege from deforestation, abnormally high temperatures, a lack of precipitation, and disease. The global market is heading for its fourth straight year of deficit, according to estimates from Rabobank International. At the same [...]
Costco Fuels Customer Loyalty with Cheap Gas For Costco, success or failure comes down to driving membership sales. Since the chain makes about 75% of its profit from membership fees, it can afford to price its merchandise and services below those of [...]
Is the U.S. Auto Industry Headed for a Slump? It is a good time to be a car buyer. Dealers are offering the biggest discounts since the Great Recession, and a combination of historically low gas prices and improvements in fuel efficiency [...]
Credit Karma is trying to Make Tax Prep Free According to Kenneth Lin, tax preparation is not rocket science. That is his pitch to get you to use Credit Karma, his popular credit-monitoring site, to do your taxes online for free. He [...]
Is U.S. Debt On Course to Explode in the Next 30 Years? A recently released report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) looking at the long-term U.S. budget outlook forecasts that both government debt and deficits are expected to soar in the [...]
Automakers and Loan Companies Fret as Auto Debt Tops $1 Trillion and Delinquencies Rise Americans in the U.S. owe a collective $1.07 trillion in debt on their vehicles, according to Experian, a financial-services company that tracks and reports credit trends for consumers [...]
Will Fuel-Conscious Drivers Block OPEC’s Bid to Raise Oil Prices? Rising U.S. oil production is not the only thing getting in the way of OPEC’s efforts to drain a global glut. American drivers are not helping either. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting [...]
Is the Humble Station Wagon Making a Comeback? This week in Geneva, European carmakers showed off their newest creations. Among the many exotic cars and trucks that command six-figure sums, there appeared a vehicle many had thought to be extinct—the station wagon. [...]